Former Beijing official sees conspiracy in Occupy movement

A former senior Beijing official said on Tuesday that there’s a major conspiracy behind the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Chen Zuo’er, president of the National Research Council of Hong Kong and Macau, called the Occupy Central movement a “Hong Kong version of the Colour Revolution”, RTHK reported.

“The Occupy Central movement has kept pressing the central government, and there’s a major conspiracy behind that,” Chen was quoted saying in a press conference attended by Hong Kong reporters in Beijing.

He said the protesters won’t achieve their demands such as asking Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to step down or the National People’s Congress to make an apology for its electoral reform framework.

Chen said the movement was similar to the pro-democracy “Jasmine Revolution” in the Middle East and the “Sunflower Movement” in Taiwan.

He quoted Foreign Minister Wang Yi as saying the root of unrest in Hong Kong is in the United States.

In addition, he applauded CY Leung’s tough stance against protesters and agreed that the government has already shown “maximum tolerance” for the demonstrators.

“There is a bottom line for the government tolerance, and the current situation should not last for long. The essence of freedom and democracy should be tolerance and negotiation, instead of obstructing others’ freedom and democracy for your own good,” he added.

Meanwhile, an editorial of People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, said Hong Kong citizens are losing their patience over the protesters and they are calling out to the authorities to clear the streets of the barricades.

Hong Kong government is likely to end the “illegal” movement through the “rule of law”, the article quoted a policy researcher as saying.

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